King of the Ring (1997)
King of the Ring (1997) was the fifth annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Federation. The event took place on June 8, 1997 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF Championship. The Undertaker defeated Faarooq to retain the title. The undercard featured the 1997 King of the Ring tournament, won by Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Other matches featured on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Neidhart) versus Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) in a six-man tag team match and Goldust versus Crush. Background King of the Ring featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on RAW is WAR—World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The pay-per-view event featured the annual King of the Ring single elimination bracket tournament. The tournament started on the May 12, 1997 edition of RAW is WAR, with Ahmed Johnson defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the first quarter-final match by disqualification. On the May 19 edition of RAW is WAR, Helmsley got another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed before his match with Johnson and thus threatened to sue WWF with legal action. He replaced the injured Vader, who was originally scheduled to wrestle Crush in the spot but had been injured in a No Holds Barred match against Ken Shamrock at In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell. Helmsley defeated Crush and regained his spot in the tournament. On the May 26 edition of RAW is WAR, Jerry Lawler defeated Goldust in the third quarter-final match. The final quarter-final match was held on June 2 edition of RAW is WAR, as Mankind defeated Savio Vega. The predominant rivalry heading into the event was between The Undertaker and Faarooq over Undertaker's WWF Championship. On May 12 edition of RAW is WAR, Undertaker had nearly defeated Faarooq's stablemate Savio Vega in a non-title match until Faarooq interfered and attacked Undertaker. On May 31 edition of Shotgun, Faarooq, Crush and Vega defeated Undertaker, Mankind and Vader in a six-man tag team match. It would eventually lead to a title match between Undertaker and Faarooq at King of the Ring. Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. On May 26 edition of RAW is WAR, Austin and Michaels defeated Owen Hart and British Bulldog to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. However, after the title win, Austin went to fight Bret Hart and Michaels was attacked by the rest of Hart Foundation, which created jealousy between the new champions. On June 2 edition of RAW is WAR, Austin and Michaels began fighting each other during a title defense against Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This led to a match between Austin and Michaels at King of the Ring to determine the captain of the team. Event Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) wrestled Bart Gunn and Jesse James on Free For All. Headbangers hit Gunn with a Powerbomb Diving Leg Drop Combo, which they called Stage Dive and pinned Gunn to win the match. Preliminary matches won the 1997 King of the Ring tournament.]] As the show concluded, the semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament started with Hunter Hearst Helmsley taking on Ahmed Johnson. Johnson dominated most of the match and had nearly won the match until Helmsley's female bodyguard Chyna climbed the apron and distracted Johnson. Helmsley took advantage and hit Johnson with a Double Underhook Facebuster, which he calls Pedigree for the victory. In the next semi-final match, Mankind wrestled Jerry Lawler. The match occurred outside the ring on many occasions. Lawler tried to finish the match by attempting a Piledriver on Mankind. However, Mankind reversed it into a Mandible claw, forcing Lawler to submit to the hold. The third match was between Goldust and Crush. During the match, Crush's teammate D'Lo Brown tried to interfere on his behalf by attacking Goldust but Goldust was thwarted off. Goldust hit Crush with a DDT and pinned him for the victory. Next was a six-man tag team match pitting The Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Neidhart) against Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). Sid tried to finish the match as he attempted to hit a Powerbomb on Bulldog. However, the legal man Hart took advantage and pinned Sid with a Sunset Flip for the victory. Main event matches The fifth match was the tournament final of the 1997 King of the Ring between Mankind and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Mankind dominated the match but Chyna's interference in the match prevented Mankind from winning. Helmsley hit Mankind with a Pedigree on the announce table outside the ring, followed by Chyna hitting a scepter in Mankind's back. Helmsley threw Mankind into the ring and performed another Pedigree to pin Mankind for the victory. As a result, Helmsley won the 1997 King of the Ring tournament. However, Helmsley broke his King of the Ring crown by smashing it in Mankind's back. After the match, Bret Hart issued an open challenge to any five American wrestlers to wrestle him and his Hart Foundation at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede. Next was a Singles match between the WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin to determine the team captain. The referee was knocked out during the match. Austin hit Michaels with a Three-Quarter Facelock Jawbreaker, which he calls Stone Cold Stunner. He picked up the referee and hit him too with a Stone Cold Stunner. This gave Michaels time to recover who hit Austin with a Superkick, which he called Sweet Chin Music and tried to pin Austin. A second referee came out in the match but instead of counting the pinfall for Michaels, he checked on the first referee. This angered Michaels and he attacked the replacement referee. The third referee Earl Hebner came in and disqualified both Austin and Michaels for attacking the referees. As a result, the match resulted in a double disqualification but Michaels and Austin continued to fight with each other. defended the WWF Championship against Faarooq at King of the Ring.]] The main event was between The Undertaker and Faarooq for the WWF Championship. Due to numerous interferences by Nation of Domination, Faarooq was able to dominate the match. However, late into the match, Crush and Savio Vega began arguing with each other which distracted Faarooq. Faarooq left the ring to investigate. This gave Undertaker time to regain his momentum. Undertaker hit Faarooq with a Reverse Belly-to-Belly Piledriver, which he calls Tombstone Piledriver and pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Ahmed Johnson made a run-in and argued with Undertaker. The argument ended with Johnson hitting Undertaker with a Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb, which he called Pearl River Plunge. Aftermath Following Ahmed Johnson's attack on The Undertaker at King of the Ring, Johnson and Undertaker were teamed together for a tag team match against Faarooq and Kama Mustafa on June 16 edition of RAW is WAR. Johnson turned on Undertaker in the match, allowing Kama to pin Undertaker for the victory. As a result, Johnson became a villain and ended his rivalry with Faarooq's Nation of Domination by joining the faction. After losing the WWF Championship match at King of the Ring due to an argument between his teammates, Crush and Savio Vega, Faarooq fired them out of Nation of Domination and converted it into a faction of black wrestlers, leading to a racial gang war as the White American Crush formed Disciples of Apocalypse and the Hispanic Vega formed Los Boricuas. Nation, DOA and Boricuas battled each other throughout 1997. As a result of Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeating Mankind to win the King of the Ring tournament, Mankind and Helmsley feuded with each other for several months. After ending his rivalry with Mankind and his alter ego, Dude Love, Helmsley found immediate success by forming the comedic faction D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels, Chyna and Rick Rude. Results Tournament brackets The tournament was held between May 12 and June 8, 1997. The tournament brackets were: | RD1-team4=Crush | RD1-score3=Pin | RD1-score4=18:56 | RD1-team5=Goldust | RD1-team6='Jerry Lawler' | RD1-score5=Pin | RD1-score6=11:55 | RD1-team7='Mankind' | RD1-team8=Savio Vega | RD1-score7=Pin | RD1-score8=14:35 | RD2-team1=Ahmed Johnson | RD2-team2='Hunter Hearst Helmsley' | RD2-score1=Pin | RD2-score2=7:42 | RD2-team3=Jerry Lawler | RD2-team4='Mankind' | RD2-score3=Sub | RD2-score4=10:24 | RD3-team1='Hunter Hearst Helmsley' | RD3-team2=Mankind | RD3-score1=Pin | RD3-score2=19:28 }} 1. Helmsley was allowed another spot in the tournament because he pulled a job to Mabel prior to his match with Ahmed Johnson the previous week that he could be eliminated via disqualification and thus threatened the WWF with legal action; Vader was originally in this spot but was injured in his No Holds Barred match with Ken Shamrock at In Your House: A Cold Day in Hell on May 11. Category:1997 in professional wrestling 1997 Category:Pay-Per-View Events Category:WWE for Extreme